Send us a textA crumbling Ybor firehouse. Three brick walls and a floor of dirt. A bronze bat that sparked a movement. We sit down with Danielle Vergnaud-McKinnon of Sky Puppy Brewing for a vivid look at how design, community, and patience turned near-ruins into one of Tampa’s most thoughtful taprooms.Danielle shares how her retail and visual design background shaped the brewery’s “brewhouse vista,” a mezzanined stage that lets guests see stainless, follow the process, and connect the dots from mash to pint. We dig into Sky Puppy’s rotating gallery wall—where 100% of sales go back to local artists—and the monthly nonprofit partnerships that make the space more than a bar. From a wildlife photographer’s owl showcase with Owl’s Nest Sanctuary to a year-long artist reunion, the taproom doubles as a welcoming gallery that lowers the barrier to both art and craft beer.We explore the brand story behind the bat, inspired by sculptor Copper Tritchiller’s humanized forms and a serendipitous act of generosity that pushed the brewery dream forward. Danielle walks us through the naming ethos, sky-and-bat label art, and the curated 13-tap lineup at 1313 E 8th Ave. Expect crisp lagers, pilsners, and West Coast IPAs alongside Scotch ales and side-by-side American and English barleywines—served with education-first hospitality: samples, aroma coaching, and palate mapping that build trust. We also get into the gritty build: excavating 21 inches of earth, bracing historic brick, and the hilariously stubborn reality of moving grain upstairs before the stairs existed.If you care about brewery design, Ybor City history, community-building, and style education, this conversation is loaded with insights. We talk growth without distribution, why Sky Puppy remains direct-to-guest, and how a neighborhood brewery can become a civic gallery where curiosity thrives and culture compounds. Subscribe, share with a beer-loving friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show.